Garment hangers



.iuly 30, 1957 J. T. KLEIN 2,801,036

GARMENT HANGERS Filed Oct. 50, 1953 sj ji 2 2e,

INVENTOR. JOSEPH T /(1 EH! A TTOPNE Y Patented July 30, 1957 GARMENTHANGERS Joseph T. Klein, Mount Vernon, N. Y.

Application October 30, 1953, Serial No. 389,266

2 Claims. (Cl. 223--92) This invention relates to garment hangers, andmore particularly to a garment hanger having an interchangeable garmentidentification means such as a tag or ticket.

It is customary to afiix tags, tickets or the like (hereinafter referredto only as tickets) to garments. These tickets bear indicia whichidentify items such as the size, style, color, lot number, and price ofa garment. The tickets aid greatly in maintaining stock inventory, inreordering, and in making certain that sizes and prices are correct.However, the tickets often are detached accidentally or are otherwisemisplaced or interchanged with other tickets. This causes considerableconfusion and often results in financial loss.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment hangerhaving a simple, easily utilizable means for detachably mounting aticket in a readily accessible and clearly visible location, so that thegarment carried by the hanger can be quickly identified at any time, asfor inventory, arrangement or sale.

It is another object of my invention to provide a garment hanger of thecharacter described, wherein the means for detachably mounting a ticketis so constructed that the ticket cannot be displaced easily byaccident.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a garment hanger ofthe character described, whereinthe means for detachably mounting aticket is so constructed that the ticket cannot be removed exceptdeliberately and with a special tool.

It is another object of my invention to provide a garment hanger of thecharacter described in which the means for detachably mounting a ticketcannot itself be detached from the garment hanger.

It is another object of my invention to provide a garment hanger of thecharacter described wherein the means for detachably mounting a ticketis incorporated in the hanger without materially raising manufacturingcosts.

It is another object of my invention to provide a garment hanger of thecharacter described which consists of relatively few and simple partsand is of particularly rugged and sturdy construction.

Other objects of my invention in part will be obvious and in part willbe pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will beexemplified in the hangers hereinafter described and of which the scopeof application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which are shown various possibleembodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a front view of a garment hanger constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view through the neck of the hanger, thesame being taken substantially along the line 22 of Fig. 1 and showingthe ticket mounting means in longitudinal section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the neck of the hanger, thesame being taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and showingthe ticket mounting means in transverse section;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 of a garment hangerembodying a modified form of my invention;

Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views taken substantially along thelines 5-5 and 66, respectively, of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 4 of still another modified form of myinvention;

Figs. 8 and 9 are fragmentary enlarged sectional views takensubstantially along the lines 8--8 and 9-9, respectively, of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a ticket-removing instrument adapted to beused with the form of garment hanger shown in Figs. 79.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs.1-4, the reference numeral 2:) denotes a garment hanger embodying mypresent invention. The construction of said hanger is largelyconventional. Thus said hanger includes the usual pair of downwardlydiverging arms 22, 24, which at their upper ends integrally are joinedto a neck 26. A wire hook 28 has its shank 30 rotatably journaled in theneck for a revolution about a vertical axis. To prevent upwarddisplacement of the hook, the bottom end of the shank is formed withenlargement 32 which is captive in a pocket in the neck of the hanger.As thus far described, the construction of the hanger is entirelyconventional.

Pursuant to my invention, I provide a ticket-mounting means formed inone piece with the hanger. Said means, in the embodiment of theinvention now being described, constitutes an elongated cavity 34, whichextends horizontally through the neck of the hanger and has one end 36thereof opening at the side edge of said neck. The other end 33 of thecavity is closed. Optionally, a portion of the wall of the cavity can beremoved, as at the front of the hanger, to provide a notch 40 forconvenience in removing a ticket 42 in the cavity. The height of theticket is substantially equal to the height of the cavity. The front toback dimension of the cavity is somewhat greater than the thickness ofthe ticket, and the length of the cavity from its closed end 38 to thenotch 40 preferably is somewhat less than the length of the ticket.

The hanger is fabricated from a water-whitei. e., colorless-clearplastic, at least in the neck, and, to simplify manufacture of thehanger, preferably in the arms as well. Thus the front of the ticketwhich is received in the cavity is clearly and easily read through thefront face of the hanger. Inasmuch as the cavity is located in the neck,the ticket is in a position where it will not ordinarily be concealed bya garment supported on the hanger, and therefore it will at all times bereadily visible.

The cavity preferably is a snug fit, at least in a vertical direction,for the ticket, so that the ticket will tend to remain in place. It isinserted simply by sliding the same into the cavity. It can be removedvery easily by catching the exposed end under a fingernail.

It will be appreciated that by forming the cavity-- i. e., the ticketmounting means-in one piece with the neck of the garment hanger, thesame may be incorporated in the hanger at very little additionalexpense. Inasmuch as the hanger is molded, it merely is necessary tomake a slight change in the shape of the die, without altering the majorcontour of the die cavity, or to provide a shiftable molding pin, whichis movable transversely into and out of the die cavity in order to formthe ticket mounting cavity 34.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a garment hanger 50 embodying a modified form ofmy invention and in which the ticket mounting means likewise is formedin one piece front face of the neck, said slot having an open front side(see Fig. 6) A downwardly extending ledge 60 is formed at the upper sideof the slot, and an upwardly extending.

ledge 6243 provided along the lower side of the slot, .both of theseledges being spaced from the back wall 64 of the slot. The ends of theslot extend to the opposite side edges of the neck of the hanger. Theslot is dimensioned to slidably receive a ticket 66. Inasmuch as theticket is visible through the open front of the slot, it is notnecessary in this form of my invention that the hanger bemade from atransparent plastic. 3 A

..As noted above, tickets sometimes tend to become accidentallydisplaced from the hanger, due to the particular manner in which thehanger is employed in some tradeor store. To prevent such accidentaldisplacement, thehanger 50 includes a pair of ribs 67, 68 located on thebottom wall 64 of the slot 58 and extending transversely across thesame. The space between the two ribs is slightly in excess of the lengthof the ticket, and

the clearance from the tops of the ribs to the inner surfaces of theledges 60, 62 is slightly in excess of the thickness of the ticket. Withthis construction, the ticket can be slid into the slot past the spacebetween one of the ribs and the ledges until the ticket lies between thetwo ribs. The ticket will tend to remain between the ribs,

thereby being secure against accidental displacement. The

hanger 20, in that it is formed with an elongated cavity extending intothe neck of the hanger from a side edge thereof. Under somecircumstances it is highly desirable to prevent tickets from beingremoved except with some difiiculty, whereby to discourage attempts toexchange tickets. The hanger 70 accomplishes this by eliminating thenotch 40, so thatboth the front and back walls of the cavity 34' extendall the way up to the side edge of the neck of the hanger. Thus oneis'unable to reach a ticket located in the cavity so as to remove thesame. Moreover, to prevent the ticket from being shaken out of thecavity, a retaining rib 68 is located on the back wall of the cavity.The rib extends transversely to the length of the cavity and is spacedfrom the closed end 38' thereof a distance in excess of the length ofthe ticket. Suflicient clearance is provided between the rib and frontwall of the cavity to permit insertion of the ticket.

In order to enable the ticket to be withdrawn, I provide and desire tosecure by Letters Patent: 2

1. A garment hangercomprising a transparent plastic 76, having at itstip a sharp retroverted pointi. e., barb' 78. The width of the groove 72is such as to fully accommodate the shank 76 of the tool 74, and theheight of the groove 72 is such as to fully accommodate the verticalheight of the tool 74, including the barb 78. Thus the tool can beslipped into the groove past the rib and by raising its barbed endcausedto engage the back surface of the ticket and raise the same clearof the rib 68', while at the same time pulling the ticket out of thecavity.

It, thus will be seen that I have provided hangers which achieve all theobjects of my' invention and are well adapted to meet the conditions ofpractical use.

As various possible embodiments might be' made of the above invention,and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth,it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in theaccom-' panying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

Having'thus described my invention, I claim 'as new said cavity havingat least one end exposed at a side edge of the neck immediately abovesaid arms, a ticket when positioned in said cavity being visible ateither the front or back of the hanger through the transparent materialof the neck.

2. A garment hanger as set forth in claim 1, wherein a notch is providedin the front of the hanger over the cavity at its exposed end, saidnotch communicating with said cavity at said exposed end.

References Cited in the file of this patent i UNITED STATES PATENTS458,590 Matthies Sept. 1, 1891 1,348,952 Landry Aug. 10, 1920 1,389,266Newton Aug. 30, 1921 1,719,505 Egan July 2, 1929' 2,165,814 Redmond July11, 1939 2,460,438

Treiman Feb. 1, 1949 Said groove extends inwardly of the cavity

